Memorial Run To Honor Medford Father

The community is invited to run in honor of a Medford man.
Ryan Folsom was killed in January by a wrong-way driver.
NewsWatch 12's Eliana Sheriff finds out how organizers plan to give back to our community in Ryan’s name.

Posted: Apr. 5, 2018 10:44 PM

Updated: Apr. 5, 2018 11:12 PM

Posted By: Eliana Sheriff

MEDFORD, Ore.-- The Southern Oregon BYU Alumni Chapter holds a fun run every year, and this year they are holding the run in honor of Ryan Folsom.

Organizers say the run is normally held in East Medford, but this year they're bringing the run to North Medford High School and renaming it the “Ryan Folsom Memorial Run.”

Folsom, a Medford father of three, was tragically killed earlier this year.Organizer Ryan Hungerford says, "Ryan was a tremendous individual, he left a very deep impact on a lot of people."

Folsom's life was tragically cut short on January 7th.Ryan always dreamed of being a doctor and was on his way to making that dream a reality.He was headed down I-5 for a residency interview in Sacramento when his car was hit head on by a driver going the wrong-way .Authorities say the woman was suicidal and drove into his lane on purpose,She survived, but Ryan did not.

His BYU family decided they want to use the upcoming run as a way to celebrate the life he lived.

Organizer Ryan Hungerford says, "We've not really had a name for it in the past, it has just been the BYU Alumni 5K, and when Ryan passed away in January and we looked at this race in the Spring, many of us decided it would be a great idea to change the name of this race to the Ryan Folsom Memorial Run to remember him."

Ryan made history playing football at both BYU and North Medford High School.People that knew him say he gave his all to everything he did.

Hungerford says, "He was a rising star in Southern Oregon, in his fourth year of medical school. He had planned on coming back to this area to practice medicine and he would have touched the lives of many people over the years. It is a great loss to us and our hope is we can remember him and help those who want to follow in similar footsteps."

The fun run will be held on Saturday, April 21st, and it is free to enter.Donations are encouraged and all of the proceeds will go back to helping local youth.For more details, click here.